This is the second album from US blackened death/doom band Galvanist.
Seemingly arising from the ashes of Arkheron Thodol, Galvanist offer up a 39-minute journey into their well-formed world of idiosyncratic hybrid extreme metal. Taking in elements of atmospheric black metal, progressive death metal, and blackened sludge/doom, The Silence Between Stars is a monstrous record.
Consisting of four long songs, (plus the usual pointless intro), Galvanist’s approach to songwriting sees them take myriad influences into their material. There’s atmosphere, dissonance, melody, abrasion, grace, and more, all subsumed into a textured tapestry of carefully shaped darkness. Although many working parts have gone into the forging of The Silence Between Stars, they work together well. Be it death, doom, sludge, or black, Galvanist work with their tools and deliver something artisanal.
It’s a tricky thing to pigeonhole too, (which is a good thing). Would you ultimately file this under a black metal category? A death metal one? Doom? Of course, the truth is it’s all of those and more. It’s a sludgy behemoth of progressive black/death/doom darkness. Related reference points might be a mix of acts such as Gorguts, Mizmor, Spectral Voice, and Ulcerate.
The vocals are raw and harsh, delivered in a style that touches on death metal, but is more in line with sludgy hardcore. They’re unpolished and filled with emotional depth. Blunt and pained, they provide a human interface with otherworldly music, bridging the gap, making The Silence Between Stars a feeling-rich, authentic experience.
This is a record that works best when digested over time. It has a slow burning character that seeps into your pores gradually, infecting as it does so. A dissonant melody here, an atmospheric flourish there…whatever it might be, it compounds bit by bit. The more you explore, the more you want to explore, and the more you discover.
From immersive misery to aggressive tension, it continues to pull you back, drawing you into a bleak world that’s curiously beautiful in places.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 